Thanks, Mom

My mom is an incredible “I cook every night” kind of mom. Perhaps most of my interest in cooking and food comes from here- wishing I could “help” with dinner each night in a capacity that exceeded setting up utensils and napkins. I wanted to cook too! (I was also probably 7 years old and likely in the way).

With all of this wonderful food modeling and cooking habits, I have found that my mother and i have extremely different cooking preferences (not as much technique as flavor). As example, I’m not sure that my exposure to meatloaf extended further than ground meat baked plain in a dish (even though she swears to the contrary). That being said, she could make a salmon loaf, fish chowder, or an inventive salad that could bring royalty to tears.

Insert exhibit A: Beet and fennel salad. I called my mother yesterday while driving to Wholefoods in search of a salad to prepare to accompany a more traditional green salad. Just seconds after asking my usual “What should I make?” she searched into her memorized recipe book and offered a beet and fennel salad. She had raved about this after making it in January (courtesy of Bon Appetite Magazine). So I thought, why not?

Just a slight deviation from the recipe, as I’m always noncompliant when it comes to recipes, I roasted the fennel first, I laid beets on a bed of arugula, and used the oranges as more of a garnish than ingredient.

The end result was a beautiful array of golden and red beets. I loved squeezing fresh lemon, lime and orange juices over the salad along with drizzled olive oil. And while having never purchased fennel in my life, I was excited to try something new. (I actually had to call my mom just to ask how to cut the fennel and which end to use!)